March 31, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



99 J 



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a deep hole in the sphagnum, plant the 

 stem in it and repack the moss hard 

 around it. But this could not he done 

 with any considerable number of tlow- 

 era together. Instead of grouping the 

 irises and lilies, as was done in the base 

 of the broken column, the base herg is 

 filled in all around. A few fall over the 

 edge on the front and sides. 



The large leaves used are those of the 

 Cyeas revoluta. Many florists use the 

 dried and painted leaves, but it seems 

 to me that the leaves in their natural 

 state are much to be preferred. Wash 



them and rub vigorously with a woolen 

 cloth and you will get a polish which is 

 far superior to the painted glaze. 

 Sharpen the lower end of the stem and 

 it will be ready for inserting into the 

 base. No artificial stem is needed. Cyoas 

 revoluta, as its variety name indicates, 

 throws its leaves out in circular form, 

 and this is the most significant hint we 

 can obtain as to their correct arrange- 

 ment in the base of the design. Close 

 to the lower end of the cross, push the 

 sharpened ends into the sphagnum as far 

 as they will go, in a circular position, 



the larger leaves at the back. Eelieve 

 the set appearance of the front of the 

 liase with a cluster of wood ferns. Stem 

 tliem in groups, three or four to a pick, 

 around it in a circle, and wired on like 

 ;iio bunches of sweet alyssum, except 

 that their thin, wiry stems may be 

 placed regularly or irregularly on the 

 pick, as is most convenient. 



Critical Notes 



It would not detract from the richness 

 and dignity of this arrangement to have 

 varied the lengths of stem of the flowers 

 in the base considerably, and also to have 

 grouped the two or three kinds of flowers 

 a little more closely, according to their 

 kind. By this I mean clustering the 

 lilies more nearly together, and the irises 

 by themselves, that is, the bulk of them. 

 Then to relieve the stiffness to which 

 the extreme of this arrangement tends, 

 scatter a smaller number of the two 

 kinds between the groups, and blend the 

 opposite kinds, as a painter blends his 

 various colors into a harmonious whole. 

 A good example of this kind of trimming 

 was seen in the base trimming of the 

 broken column in our last study. 



The larger and smaller kinds of flow- 

 ers in the upper end of the garland 

 change too abruptly. The finer flowers 

 should extend farther down into the 

 larger spray on one side, while a scat- 

 tering cluster of the larger flowers be- 

 low should be carried up farther into 

 the fine spray that points the garland. 



Going back to the base again if the 

 lilies used are Harrisii or longiflorum, 

 the stalks with buds would be more 

 stately than the individually stemmed 

 nowers. Geetrudb Blair. 



A NEW WHITE ASTER. 



At the Milwaukee convention of the 

 !S. A. F. last August one of the exhibits 

 which] attracted no little attention was a 

 vase of a new white aster shown by C. 

 A. Olmstead, of East Bloomfield, N. Y. 

 This is now being introduced as Olni- 

 stead's White Commercial. Speaking of 

 it Mr. Olmstead says: 



The new aster has a stem fifteen to 

 eighteen inches long, slishtl.y curved, 

 bearing the flower gracefullv to one side, 

 and of sufiicient strength to support the 

 blooms. In size and form it is distinct 

 from all others. With good fleld cul- 

 ture I have raised hundreds of blooms 

 that were se'ven inches in diameter, full 

 to the center, and with four to five other 

 large ones on the same plant ; but the av- 

 erage size, under outdoor cultivation, is 

 about four and one-half inches, five to 

 seven blooms on each plant. They are of 

 unusual form, pure white and good 

 keepers. 



We find the Review essential to a well 

 regulated florists' business. — H B. 

 Mitchell & Son, Waterville, Me. 



Wichita, Kan. — A. T. Buckeridge has 

 several promising seedling carnations, 

 .some of which he thinks as good as Mrs. 

 Lawson. 



Syracuse, N. Y. — Henry Smith has re- 

 cently returned from a somewhat lengthy 

 European trip. He is the superintendent 

 of the New York State Fair. 



Midland, Mich. — E. C. Thayer has 

 built a greenhouse of 1,800 square feet 

 and installed a steam heating plant. It 

 is a new departure for this town. 



